Sewing machine



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Patented May. 28, 1929.

1,715,119 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALICK GLARKSON, OF EAST COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO S. E. SAUNDERS LIMITED, OF EAST COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT, ENGLAND.

SEWING MACHINE.

Application flledsmarch 14, 1922, Serial No. 543,604, and in Great Britain March 18, 1921.

This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly those of the kind employed for performing heavy work such, for

instance, as sewing or stitching together sheets of ply-wood as described in the specification of former Letters Patent #1,444,482, of Feb. 6, 1923.

Owing to the inertia of the ply-wood, it is found that, when feeding the latter intermittently in the usual way, with the machine-running at a high speed, it tends to move when the needle is in it so that the latter is liable to break or bend. u

My invention has for its object to obviate this disadvantage and to this end I arrange to feed the material being stitched continuously instead of intermittently as heretofore, means being provided for moving the needle with the work at exactly the same speed during its engagement therewith.

In a suitable arrangement for carryingout my invention I provide two pairs of rollers for gripping the material being sewn, one pair being in front of the needle and the other pair behind the same. These rollers are mounted on shafts driven by suitable worm and bevel gears from the main shaft, the shafts being constructed so that the rollers can be adjusted to different thicknesses of material to be sewn. The lower shafts are carried at the forward end in adustable bearings, whilst the forward bearings for the upper shafts are provided with extensions sliding vertically in guides against the pressure of springs.

For moving the needle with the work, I provide a frame in which the needle bar and a presser'foot slide vertically. This frame is formed with lateral extensions at the lower part sliding in horizontal guides. the upper part of the frame sliding in a slot. The said frame is moved to correspond with the feed movement of the work, bya cam on the main shaft or on a separate shaft driven by gearing from the latter, which cam actuates the frame through the medium of a lever and link, the needle bar being driven vertically by the usual crank and connecting 1 rod.

modification of the reverse direction. For this purpose a reversing gear is employed for rotating the machine in the opposite direction and an additional cam is provided for effecting the correct movement of the take-up leverysuitable mechanism being provided for throwing one cam into gear and the other out of gear. j

To enable the invention to be fully understood, I will describe it by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figurel is a front elevation of a sewing machine constructed. in accordance with my invention and designed to feed the work in one direction only.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the machine with a part thereof removed.

igures 3 and 4 are horizontal sect-ions on the lines 3-3, and 4 -4, Figure 1, respec tively. I

Figure 5 is a rear view of a part of the machine showing the driving gear for the feed rollers.

Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively, a side elevation and an end view showing the framing of the machine more clearly than is indicated in the preceding figures.

Figure 8 is a sectional side view showing a mechanism for operating the take-up lever to allow the latter to function when the feed of the work is reversed for each alternate line of stitching.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9'9, Figure 8.

The frame of the machine comprises the base a, the upright b and the neck or bracket 0 extending from the upright b and overhanging the base a, the said neck carrying in suitable bearings the shaft d for operating the needle-bar e by a crank disc 6 and connecting rod 6 whilstthe base a, carries the driving shaft f and an oscillatory shuttle f co-op'erating'with the needle 9 of the needle bar e. The shuttle is rocked from the shaft f by suitable gearing, not shown.

The shaft f drives the shaft d through the medium of the vertical shaft 1 and suitable gearing, not shown, and carries clutch mechanism f whereby it can be started and stopped. it is the usual take-up lever for the needle thread, operated by, a cam-groove k in the periphery of the crank-disc e i, z, a", i are the two pairs of feed rollers for the material to be sewn,'for instance,

ply-wood by thedot and dash lines A, Figure 1,.the members of each pair gripping the said material between them, and

. each roller being formed in two parts which arearranged one on each side of the supporting bearing of, the shaft therefor. The pair of-rollers iare arrangedat the front ofthe needle. gewhilst the pair of rollers 11 are behindthe said needle. j, j, 9' j are the shafts carrying at one end the rollers i, 2', 71 ,41 respectively, whilst their other ends are geared together bygear-whiaels i of equal diameters j and one of each pair is driven from theshaftf by worm gearing i as indicated on Figure-5. 7c, 70 are the bearings for the ends/of the shafts j and 7' carrying the lower rollers 2', i the said bearings being mountedon the base a through the medium of the threadedstuds 70 the holesin the per rollers and Z bearings through which the saidstuds pass being elongated to allow of the position of the said bearings being. adjusted. Z',-Z, are the bearingsfor the'shafts j, 7' carrying the up- Z are the extensions thereon which slide vertically in' guide-wa s Z onblocks Z attached to the part 0 o the frame, against. the pressure of the springs Z. These springs encircle'rods Z which extend upwardly from the extensions Z} and slide in guides 1 also on the bracket 0, the aid springs being located between shoullers onthe rods Z and the undersides of the .said guides, To enable the upper feed rollers 21, i to be lifted to. allow the material A to be placed in position on or removed from the lower feed rollers, .a pair of leverarms m connected at their'outer ends by a cross bar or handle m are pivotally connected at m to the rods Z and fulcrumed at m to the one end of links m the other ends of which are pivoted at m to the guides Z. .By raising the handle m in the direction of the arrow, Figure. 2, it will be seen-that the upper rollers z, i will be raised, the parts being locked in this position when the arms m attainthe position indicated by the-dot and dash lines in the said figure, the three centersfm m, m being practically in alignment. The shaft j and 7 are formed in sections connected by universal joints 7' to allow of vertical movement of the rollers n is the frame in which. the needle-bar 6 andspring pressedpresser foot a slide vertically' and M, n are the lateral extensions on the lower part of. the saidframe which are slidably mounted inhorizontal guidewaysn in the blocks l, frame 1 disposed portion or head slidably arranged in a horizontal ide slot 0, formed between a air of guide-bars 0 carried by the racket c, I

The framen is moved horizontally, when the needle 9 is in the work A, in correthe upper part of the being formed with. a horizontally.

spondence with the feed movement of the rollers 11, i -so thatno side strain, is exerted on the needle to break orbend it, thishorizontal movement of the said frame being effected by an irregular cam groove 72 in the face of a disc p on the shaftld through the medium of a lever g fulcrumed at g in a bracket g on theneckc, oneendof the said lever engagingthe said groove, bya roller g whilst the other end of the lever is connected to the frame bya connecting-rod g, The course of groove p in disc 39 is such that during the portion of the upward move: ment of the'needle, material A it moves in the reverse direction to that of the said material and this reverse movement finishes atthe time the needle again enters the material with which it again moves forwardly and so on.v It will thus be seen that the lateralmovement of the needle corresponds with the movement of the work during its entire engagement therewithl 1' is a small circular cutter or saw arranged in front of the needle for forming grooves in the known manner in the upper surface of the material -A for theupper or needle thread to lie in, this saw being mounted on a spindle 1' carried in bearings in an arm pivoted to the front upper bearing. Z. The saidfspindle is rotated-by a sprocket wheel 8 driven by a chain 8 from a sprocket wheel 8 on the'shaft (Z the spindle a. carrying this sprocket wheel being mounted in hearings in a bracket tmounted on the neck a and connected to the spindle 1- by an intermediate spindle and universal joints 7'.

The machine above described is arranged to feed in one direction-only so that the material A, when a line of stitching is made therein, has to be returned to the starting point to make the next line of stitching.

I may, however, arrange to feed the material in the reverse direction. to. that described above to avoid the described return movement, and for this purpose the driving shaft 7 is arranged in connection with mechanism whereby its rotation can be reversed so as to reverse themovement of the feed rollers 2', i. As this reverse movement of the shaft 7 will result in a-corresponding movement of the shaft (2 it is necessary to provide means for effectin the correct movement of the take-u lever or both directions of the said shaft For thispurpose 1 employ the arrangement illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 wherein the cam k is dispensed'with and a'pair of connected cams u, uare ke ed to but slidably mounted ona cross-sha a; driven by spiral gear 0 fromtheshaft (i so that either of the cams can be brought by suitable mechanism, not shown, beneath the take-up lever, the latter then resting'thereon and being operated thereby. These two cams are of shapes which will give the appropriate movement to the take-up lever acwhen it is free of the cording to the direction of the feed rollers i, i.

I claim:

1. In a sewing machine for sewing heavy material, the combination with a continuous feed mechanism for the material being stitched, of a stitch forming mechanism having an upright and straight needle movable vertically and laterally, the needle during the lateral movements being truly vertical and moving with the work at exactly the same speed during its entire engagement therewith.

2. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for moving the needle laterally comprise a needle bar, a needle bar frame in which the needlebar is vertically reciln'ocated and which is slidably mounted in horizontal guideways to keep the needle at all times vertical and in line with the stitching, and means for imparting lateral movement to the needle bar frame.

3. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for moving the needle laterally comprise a needle bar, a needle bar frame in which the needle bar is vertically reciprocated and which is slidably mounted in horizontal guideways to keep the needle at all timesvertical and in line with the stitching, and means for imparting lateral movement to the needle bar frame, said means comprising a cam formed to give the correct progression while the needle is in engagement with the work and a quick return while out of engagement therewith.

4. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein selectively operated means are employed to actuate the take-up lever so that the machine can be run in either direction.

5. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein selectively operated means are employed to actuate the take-up lever so that the machine can be run in either direction, said means comprising a pair of connected cams, which are respectively engaged with the said lever according to the direction in which the machine is being run.

' ALICK CLARKSON. 

